About BC Books Online
BC Books Online was created for anyone interested in BC-published books, and with librarians especially in mind. We'd like to make it easy for library staff to learn about books from BC publishers - both new releases and backlist titles - so you can inform your patrons and keep your collections up to date.
Our site features print books and ebooks - both new releases and backlist titles - all of which are available to order through regular trade channels. Browse our subject categories to find books of interest or create and export lists by category to cross-reference with your library's current collection.
A quick tip: When reviewing the "Browse by Category" listings, please note that these are based on standardized BISAC Subject Codes supplied by the books' publishers. You will find additional selections, grouped by theme or region, in our "BC Reading Lists."
Description
Military doctors serving in Afghanistan usually spend their entire tour in the relatively safe confines of the main base. FOB Doc is the story of one Canadian doctor who spent nearly his entire tour in combat. Captain Ray Wiss was stationed at Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) in Kandahar province, the birthplace of the Taliban and the most intense zone combat in Afghanistan. He shares the 'terror and boredom' of the front-line soldier's life in this candid personal diary. One day, he might be participating in combat operations, treating severe and bloody injuries and coping with the deaths of fellow soldiers, both Afghans and NATO allies; another day, he might be writing about the challenges of going to the latrine in sub-zero weather. FOB Doc is heartbreaking and hilarious, often on the same page.
Editorial Reviews
"I encourage you to read this book, to think about what it is to be Canadian in the context of this story and to encourage your family and friends to read it."
— Rick Hillier
"FOB Doc is worth reading, but a decade hence, after the withdrawal and after second sight have done their work, the ex-soldiers' novels will be more interesting still."
— Globe & Mail
"One author and his remarkable book warrant particular note, namely, Captain Ray Wiss's FOB Doc: A Doctor on the Front Lines in Afghanistan. Good memoirs are engaging on a personal level, provide detail that would only usually be available to the participants in the events, and force the reader to examine participants' preconceptions of the situation at hand. Wiss's book is all of this and so much more. Covering the author's experiences as a military doctor, from November 2007 through the spring of 2008, it presents a story that has received little attention to this point -- that of our military medical professionals working on the front lines.Its greatest strengths rest in its rather unique perspective, and in the strength of character of its author...This is a book that should be widely read and appreciated."
— Journal of the Department of National Defence
Out of print
This edition is not currently available in bookstores. Check your local library or search for used copies at Abebooks.
